Duterte signs P3.35-Tr budget

DepEd gets the biggest share with P544.1B; DSWD — P128.3B; DOH — P96.3B; Philhealth — P53.22B; DILG — P148B; DND —P137.2B; DPWH — P454.7B; DOTr —P53.3B; DA —P45.2B

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte signed into law yesterday the P3.35 trillion budget for 2017.

Duterte said the signing of Republic Act 10924, or the General Appropriations Act of 2017, affirms the national government’s commitment to support the needs of the people to enhance basic social services and projects.

“As the first budget of my administration, we ensure that it will be pro-people, pro-investment, pro-growth, and pro-development,” he said.

With P544.1 billion, the highest allocation out of all Executive departments, the Department of Education (DepEd) will provide and maintain basic education facilities, create teaching and nonteaching positions, as well as develop and provide learning resources to more than 20 million Filipino students in the country, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

It said deserving Filipinos will be given access to tertiary education through the P58.72 billion allocation for State Universities and Colleges and the P18.7 billion allocation for the Commission on Higher Education.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is granted P128.3 billion, a significant portion of which is for the Conditional Cash Transfer program and monthly rice subsidy for impoverished households, DBM said.

The Department of Health is also given a sizeable allocation of P96.3 billion to provide the marginalized sector with new and modernized health facilities.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is provided with P53.22 billion to fund the universal health care program that will address the Filipinos’s need for quality health service.

“The Department of Interior and Local Government through a P148 billion budget for 2017 will assist in the country’s efforts against illegal drugs, construct new jail facilities, and increase the allowance for prisoners,” the DBM said.

To improve peace and order in the country, the 2017 budget allocates the Department of National Defense (DND) the amount of P137.2 billion for territorial defense and for the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, it added.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) receives P454.7 billion and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is given P53.3 billion.

“The sizeable increase in both departments along with more than P850 billion allotment for the construction of road networks in cities and provinces, school buildings, hospitals, transport infrastructure, and many other public works will raise productivity, generate jobs, and attract investments,” the DBM said.

It also said that the farmers will no longer have to pay irrigation fees because these will be shouldered by the National Irrigation Authority, which is granted P38.4 billion for 2017.

Some P45.2 billion is given to the Department of Agriculture (DA), while the Department of Agrarian Reform is provided with P9.8 billion.

The DBM said the government will also grant crop insurance to 1.3 million subsistence farmers and fisher folks to minimize damages from typhoons and other natural calamities.